1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to electrokinetic transducing methods and apparatus, and more particularly to improvements in such apparatus and methods whereby the undesired production of ozone is decreased and efficiency is increased.
2. Prior Art
Electrokinetic transducers and apparatus and systems comprising the same have been known for many years. For example, electrokinetic transducers of the "diode" or "two-array" type, and systems comprising the same, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,018,394, issued to Thomas Townsend Brown on Jan. 23, 1962, and in U.S. Pat. No. 2,949,550, issued to Thomas Townsend Brown on Aug. 16, 1960. Further, electrokinetic transducers of the "triode" or "three-array" type, and systems comprising the same, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,518,462, issued to Thomas Townsend Brown on June 30, 1970.
The electrokinetic transducers of these prior art patents, when immersed in ionizable dielectric fluid media, e.g., air, convert electrical energy directly into fluid flow, i.e., flow of the ionizable dielectric fluid media, without the aid of moving parts. The first two patents cited above, for example, disclose electrokinetic apparatus wherein electrodes of appropriate form are maintained in predetermined juxtaposition in an ionizable dielectric fluid medium, e.g., air, and the application of suitable voltages to said electrodes, i.e., the excitation of said electrodes, produces forces which cause the medium to move with respect to said electrodes.
The prior art teaches that such electrokinetic apparatus may be used as an electric fan, when the exciting voltage applied to said electrodes is continuous, direct-current voltage, or may be used as a loudspeaker, when the exciting direct-current voltage applied to said electrodes is modulated in accordance with the desired sound output from the loudspeaker.
Unfortunately, while these prior art electrokinetic transducers have generally served the purposes for which they were constructed, when they are operated in air they often incidentally produce undesirably large quantities of ozone and oxides of nitrogen. Further, these prior art electrokinetic transducers, when operated as loudspeakers, have not only propogated sound waves but also have acted as fans, and produced greater airflows than are desirable in loudspeakers.